ABSTRACT
The African American Media and African Americans in the Mass Media The African American Media Like the media in general, the African American media are quite diverse. They include about 200 weekly newspapers, approximately 450 black-oriented radio stations, several national circulation news and special interest magazines, and BET and TVONE, the cable entertainment and information networks. XM, the Power, is an all-African American talk channel on satellite radio (as of 2007 blacks owned 2.2 percent of AM radio stations, 1.3 percent of FM stations, and 1 percent of broadcast television stations).2 In general, the black weeklies
serve as the voice for the local African American communities, focusing on local rather than national news.3 Their focus tends to be on the internal black community’s civic, cultural, and religious affairs. The mainstream or white media tend to ignore the internal life of the black community, thus the black media serve as a vehicle for intragroup communication and solidarity. Many, although not all, of the black weeklies serve as watchdogs on local government and continue the tradition of a fighting press. For example, while the Los Angeles Times tended to present the O. J. Simpson arrest and trial in an unsympathetic way, the black Los Angeles Sentinel in effect became Simpson’s champion in the media, apparently reflecting the views of the city’s black community as the Los Angeles Times reflected the views of the city’s whites.4
